The Vixen of the Thieves – Chapter 6 - Of Mercenaries and Poets
La Volpe smiled as he rode up a small hill with Isabelle riding behind him.
He had made sure she did not ride alone. He made sure the pace was gentle, on an older mare, to prevent her from causing harm to herself or the baby she carried. She rode in a normal saddle since they did not have a side saddle for her.
They made their way to the outskirts of Roma. It would take more than a week and they sheltered in inns along the way. Alone, La Volpe would have found shelter under a tree, but while his woman was with him and carrying his child within her, he was not about to allow her to be without a warm meal and a bed. The swell was visible now if a person knew that was what it was. It looked more to be her gaining a small bit of weight. She was glowing, however.
They kept to themselves in the tavern, speaking lowly, and La Volpe making sure she ate her fill. Upstairs he held her to him and kept his hand on the small swell as she slept. He watched over her until sleep claimed him as well.
The second day was full of cold wet rain. She had eaten a few crackers to settle her stomach, but could do little other than that. She had been so determined to come, but she looked so miserable.
La Volpe had tied her mount to his own saddle and then pulled her up before him. He controlled the horse with one hand and held the other around her back as she leaned against him. She was cold, he had felt her hands when she had mounted with him. Holding her close and under his own large, thick travel cloak, he hoped to keep her warm. She had fallen asleep a couple times. He had held her to him watching the road ahead and the rain pelting the cowl she had drawn over her hair and face. Under his cloak he could barely see her face as she rested, but he knew she needed the rest.
By lunch time she was able to eat some warm soup and bread. It was back to the horse. He allowed her to ride on her own for a time, at her insistence to let his arm rest, but when she had nearly fallen from her horse, he caught her to him and pulled her to him, he shook his head at her. He again tied her mare to his gelding and moved. He tucked her
They finally reached Caserma di Alviano before lunch. La Volpe helped her down. She staggered a moment and he caught her to him a moment. She steadied herself and smiled at him. "I am all right." She said.
He nodded.
They walked into the barracks together.
"La Volpe!" A great man cried from where he stood in the middle of the room. He had been looking at a map on a table. He was a very large man. He was over six feet tall and as broad as an ox. "Where the fuck have you been you old fox." He laughed and looked over La Volpe keenly. "How long has it been? Too damn long anyway…"
"Bartolomeo d'Alviano, always a pleasure." La Volpe commented. This man was a strong and staunch ally, but he was going to do wonders for his lover's vocabulary.
Bartolomeo looked at the shy young woman behind the Fox. "And who is this beauty?" He asked as she lowered her hood.
"Isabelle De' Medici." La Volpe said smoothly.
Bartolomeo came to Isabelle and took her hand. He kissed her knuckles. "A pleasure, my dear. Welcome to my home." He stood back up. He then laughed and pulled her into a smothering hug that nearly crushed her and certainly winded her.
He set her down and she coughed a little, though she was smiling at the burly man. La Volpe knew she was uninjured and the baby she carried was well protected, but still…
"Pantasilea!" He bellowed. "Pantasilea!"
The woman was in her mid-twenties in a dress that was pretty, modest, and tasteful. Her face framed by blonde hair, was oval, her nose tip-tilted like a flower, her lips were generous and humorous. Her eyes held intelligence and were a deep brown which seemed to be welcoming to you, but also were mysterious and seemed to hold something of herself. She was tall for a woman, coming to Bartolomeo's shoulder, but slender, with quite wide shoulders and rather narrow hips, long slim arms, and shapely legs.
Bartolomeo smiled. "This is my wife, Pantasilea." He grinned. "Panta, my friend La Volpe and Isabelle De Medici."
Pantasilea smiled. "Ah. I have heard of you. You are Lorenzo's cousin then."
"Yes." Isabelle said.
Pantasilea looked at Isabelle. "Come let us find you some soup or something to eat. You look pale and famished."
"Yes. Thank you." La Volpe said.
Pantasilea led her to the kitchens where the cook was busy making food for the mercenaries. She smiled and collected two bowls of thick beef and barley soup with yeasty fresh oven baked bread. She then led the older Isabelle out into the courtyard where they could be outside in the fresh air.
"How are you feeling? Such a journey must have been taxing."
"Yes." Isabelle said.
"When are you due to give birth?"
Isabelle looked up startled. "Prego?"
"Women know such things my dear." Pantasilea smiled. "Men often are obvious, but I can see how you carry yourself."
Isabelle nodded. "I am with child yes." She said. She began to eat. "Not far, however."
"And who is the father?"
Isabelle's face lifted. Pantasilea lifted a hand. "I do not mean to pry only start a conversation."
Isabelle's face brightened. "I think I will like you a lot." She then leaned to the other woman. "La Volpe is my lover."
"Ah, that explains his look when you left his side."
They laughed.
"Buon giorno, signore." Came a new male voice.
Both looked up. "Ah, Leonardo. I hope you found your rooms comfortable."
"Of course Madonna." The man bowed.
"Isabelle. This is Leonardo Da Vinci, master painter, master inventor, and a good friend."
"A pleasure." Isabelle said smiling.
"I could not help, but overhear. Such things fascinate me, my lady, but is there any way I could document you since you are with child."
Isabelle chuckled. "Blunt, isn't he."
"Most men are." Pantasilea chuckled.
Leonardo sat waiting for them to finish before he took out parchment. He began to ask questions and scrawled the answers as he set his inkwell in the grass and listened to the explanations Isabelle gave. Pantasilea also found it interesting. She was not long married and she listened to the woman who had already borne twins with interest.
Leonardo took measurements of her small belly and smiled at her. "This will be a fun side project. I have always been curious to document the changes in a woman's body as the baby grows."
Isabelle laughed. "I will be as fat as a house soon, but you are free to document all you wish Leonardo."
"Have you been ill at all?" He asked
"I have been faint at times and fatigued, but as far as morning sickness, very little."
"Interesting."
La Volpe came up. "Greetings." He said.
"Gilberto." Isabelle smiled. "Have you met, Leonardo."
"I know his work. Ezio Auditore claims him to be a genius." La Volpe said.
Leonardo blushed. "Ezio is giving me far more credit than he should."
Isabell patted his knee. "I am sure that is not an exaggeration, Leonardo. Ezio is a good judge of character."
"You know him?"
"Yes, but I have not seen him in some years."
"Perhaps he will find you. He seems to always find me when I am least expecting it." Leonardo said.
La Volpe nodded. "He is around like the shadow assassin he is."
Isabelle sighed and rose to her feet awkwardly. She shifted back a little and Leonardo looked back at her. He wrote more on his notes. He then looked up at her. "There are other changes I have heard of I would like to observe, with your permission, of course."
"Such as what?" La Volpe asked.
"The enlarging of the breasts, skin changes, hair changes, darkening of the nipple and becoming more sensitive…"
La Volpe blinked. "You wish to see my lover naked."
"Only if she is willing. I will not touch her, only draw what I see. You can stand and make sure nothing happens." Leonardo said. "I have already taken the measurements I need for now."
La Volpe looked at his lover as he stood up. "And your thoughts."
"He is a man of science. What is the harm, amore?"
"Your body is not something I am willing to share…" He said.
"You are not sharing it. He is only wanting to learn."
He sighed and nodded. He knew well enough not to push the point with her when her mind was made up. He shrugged and Belle smiled. "Very well, Leonardo."
ZzZ
That afternoon Isabelle was made comfortable on the bed Pantasilea had prepared for her and her husband. La Volpe stood nearby. Arms folded as Leonardo worked on his drawings and notes. Even he had to admit the odd beauty and science in his drawings.
Isabelle had a thin sheet for modesty's sake over her legs and hips, but from her hips up was bare for Leonardo to draw and study. La Volpe noticed, almost to his alarm that Leonardo was not watching her as a man would, but as someone looking and looking at a work of art.
The man was doing very well duplicating the art before him. La Volpe looked at the charcoal drawings and approved. Leonardo made no move to touch her either. He would looked up occasionally and squint as though trying to gauge the size of something.
When Leonardo had asked them if he could observe them making love, it was Isabelle who drew the line. La Volpe had been recovering from the shock of being asked such a question from another man, but Isabelle flatly told the painter, no.
Leonardo respected them enough to let the discussion drop after and as Isabelle replaced her clothing he commented that women's clothing was far more complicated than a man's. La Volpe chuckled and nodded.
Isabelle went to the window and looked out at the fields behind as La Volpe looked over the drawings with interest. Leonardo had a talent, the Fox could not deny it. They spent what was left of the afternoon sharing wine and Leonardo speaking to Isabelle about everything from cravings to odd changes in mood. La Volpe also added his insight which Leonardo seemed happy for as well.
It was nearly dark and time for supper when the small group joined their hosts. La Volpe had to admit that it was not nearly as terrible as he thought, though he still did not like another man seeing so much of her. Still, she had been the lover of two other men, so he was by far not the only one who had seen her so.
Dinner was a pleasant affair with the d'Alvianos. They had simple, but hearty food and good wine. Isabelle drank only one glass of wine before changing to fruit juice that Pantasilea offered her from the local orchards.
That night La Volpe was determined to reclaim his lover as his own. She smiled amused by his advance and then sighing in pleasure as he seduced her and then made love to her. By the end they were both sated and exhausted, but he smiled and kissed her.
"I do love you." La Volpe said looking down at her cradled in his arms.
"I know." She answered. She yawned sleepily and then relaxed to sleep.
ZzZ
The next morning brought another guest to the barracks. He arrived and looked up to see Isabelle and Pantasilea, both early risers, coming down the stairs together. The elder of the pair was eating some thick morning bread that Pantasilea had brought her.
Pantasilea smiled at the newcomer who watched them keenly. The newcomer was a tall young man, though he was not fully a man yet. He regarded Pantasilea and then bowed to her. "Madonna d'Alviano."
"Niccoló." She greeted. "Belle, this is…"
"Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli." Isabelle said fluidly. "Yes, we have met. Always a pleasure Niccoló." She took a breath. "I am sorry for the loss of your father."
"As I grieve with your losses as well." He then bowed to Isabelle. "Madonna Auditore. It has been some years since I have seen you."
Pantasilea looked at Isabelle. "I thought you were a De' Medici."
"She is." The young man said. "However, she is also much more." He smiled. "She is the sister-in-law of the young assassin Ezio Auditore, widow of his brother Federico, and mother to two children."
"And another soon to come." Pantasilea said.
Niccoló smiled. "I had not heard you had remarried."
"I have not." She said straightening her shoulders defiantly.
He lifted a hand. "I am hardly a man to judge such affairs, dear lady."
She nodded relaxing.
ZzZ
Niccoló as Isabelle found, for a young man of such a young age, was highly intelligent and a spymaster. He worked closely with Pantasilea to be the background for the Assassins. Though he was only sixteen years, he was a master assassin, having been elected to take control of the assassin guild of Florence and was actively building on in Venice as well since his father's death. Recruiting was slow, but having Isabelle, and assassin herself, as it was revealed to Bartolomeo, Pantasilea, and Leonardo, with her amazing charm, perhaps she could look into recruits herself.
She agreed, though she had not seen any prospects as of yet. The thieves under Antonio and La Volpe's control were most men and women who had been raised on the streets and did not have the knowledge needed to be true assassins. For one most of them were illiterate.
Rosa and Antonio could read, but writing at times presented a challenge. Rosa was not an assassin, but was an ally. La Volpe and Antonio were both members. They had commented that their guilds were at the disposal of the assassins and they actively helped Ezio when he was tracking people who were a danger to the assassins or those who worked with them. Niccoló was also working to gain the respect of those who worked with him. Though young he had a brilliant mind and had quickly won over Antonio, La Volpe, and Pantasilea. Isabelle also liked the young man who was both charming and strong. He had dealt with the death of his parents far better than Belle had the loss of her father-in-law, husband, and brother-in-law. He shrugged it off saying that the assassin's life had made it easier to take physical pain as well as mental pain. He had used it as an exercise to perfect his training so he could gain his father's position. Though still a boy and another master assassin was keeping him in check as a requirement until he became a man, the other master did not see any need so far to contradict anything Niccoló had done. As young as he was, Niccoló was wise and he was looking for something in Venice. He too had heard rumors of the prophet as Isabelle and La Volpe had heard the whispers. Was there truth to these rumors? It was anyone's guess for now.
At Niccoló's urging Isabelle wrote a letter to Claudia and Mario. She had not spoken to them in some years and she knew they supposed her dead. She sighed when she was finished and Niccoló promised to see them delivered to Mario though the network of spies he had made.
ZzZ
La Volpe returned to collect his lover three days later. It was raining hard and he agreed to stay the day so Isabelle would not become ill from riding in the cold.
He spoke to the young Niccoló and Bartolomeo as the two women moved about speaking and making their own plans. Pantasilea taught Isabelle how to cook lamb. Isabelle had loved lamb with the Auditore family, but the cooks had always made it. Now she knew how to cook it and she ate two large portions along with the potatoes Pantasilea had cooked in the coals of the cooking fire.
La Volpe was happy to see her eating and when her belly was full and Isabelle grew sleepy, the thief master carried his lover to their rooms and smiled as he laid her back against the pillows. He made love to her gently and lovingly, claiming her as his own.
The next morning was misty and damp and La Volpe waited for the fog to burn off from the sun before making ready to leave. It also allowed Isabelle to learn the secrets of bread and biscuits from Pantasilea who seemed to be eager to teach someone her arts. La Volpe knew having her cook would be yet another way to keep her out of harms way.
Parting with Pantasilea was difficult and Isabelle promised to return soon. Bartolomeo lifted her to her horse with ease as though she was a twig and nothing more. She settled on her gentle mount and smiled at La Volpe who was near her.
They rode away.